VNV Nation is an Irish alternative electronic project led by
Ronan Harris
Ronan Harris (born 14 June 1967) is the founding member of the electronic music project VNV Nation. He is credited with the songwriting, production, lyrical and vocal aspects of the band's music. In the years preceding VNV Nation's debut album, h ...
in the roles of singer, songwriter, and producer. VNV Nation's sound combines lyrics with sounds that ranges from melodic
industrial dance anthems, to haunting ballads and
post-classical
In world history, post-classical history refers to the period from about 500 AD to 1500, roughly corresponding to the European Middle Ages. The period is characterized by the expansion of civilizations geographically and development of trade ...
soundtrack pieces. Their 2015 album ''
Resonance: Music For Orchestra Vol. 1'' achieved #4 ''Classical'' & #3 ''Classical Crossover'' ''Billboard'' chart positions in the US. The "VNV" in the name stands for "Victory Not Vengeance," in keeping with the group's
motto
A motto (derived from the Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of an individual, family, social group, or organisation. Mot ...
, "One should strive to achieve, not sit in bitter regret."
History
Prelude and formation
Ronan Harris was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, where he was exposed to electronic music via radio programmes from which he developed an interest in bands such as
Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk (, "power station") is a German band formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Widely considered innovators and pioneers of electronic music, Kraftwerk were among the first successful acts to popularize the ...
,
DAF, and
The Human League
The Human League are an English synth-pop band formed in Sheffield in 1977. Initially an experimental electronic outfit, the group signed to Virgin Records in 1979 and later attained widespread commercial success with their third album ''Dare' ...
. In 1983, he joined a band named ''Die Fabrik'', whose punk-inspired noise and synth style was not well received in Dublin. By 1987, Harris moved to London where, in 1989, he began to compose music under the name ''Nation'' - a
1984
Events
January
* January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888.
* January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...
-inspired, electronic orchestral music project. Harris relocated to Toronto, Canada in 1990, but his music output stagnated until 1994 when he revived ''Nation'', modified by his newfound motto: "Victory Not Vengeance" to become VNV Nation.
Early years: ''Advance and Follow'' (1995) and ''Praise the Fallen'' (1998)
The group's first release, ''
Advance and Follow
VNV Nation is an Irish alternative electronic project led by Ronan Harris in the roles of singer, songwriter, and producer. VNV Nation's sound combines lyrics with sounds that ranges from melodic industrial dance anthems, to haunting ballad ...
'', came out in 1995. ''Advance And Follow'' featured industrial electronic beats heavily influenced by middle-era EBM acts such as
Nitzer Ebb
Nitzer Ebb () are a British EBM group formed in 1982 by Essex school friends Vaughan "Bon" Harris (programming, synthesizers, drums, vocals), Douglas McCarthy (vocals), and David Gooday (drums).
History
Initial releases (1983–1987)
The g ...
and
Front 242, along a mixture of danceable synthesizer melodies, and elements of
orchestral music
An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families.
There are typically four main sections of instruments:
* bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, ce ...
. Although it was the band's first full-length release, Harris regards ''Advance and Follow'' more as a set of demos than a proper album. In 2001, it was re-released as ''Advance and Follow 2.0'', with updated production, re-recorded vocals, and five bonus tracks, which include two Front 242 covers.
Their next release, ''
Praise the Fallen
''Praise the Fallen'' (also known as ''PTF2012'') is the second studio album by the alternative electronic band VNV Nation, released in 1998. It is a departure from their debut album’s sound, featuring better production values, being more mel ...
'' in 1998, continued largely in this vein, and they began to enjoy a larger degree of commercial success.
During that time, Harris also wrote for the online magazine ''
Side-Line'', of which he was the webmaster until 1999.
''Empires'' (1999)
''
Empires
An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
'', released in 1999, was their breakthrough album, gaining them widespread commercial success and topping the German DAC charts for seven weeks.
''Empires'' expanded on the band's bombastic, melodic synthesizer lines and incorporated tighter song structures. Furthermore, the harsher 'sheet metal instrumentals' of ''Praise the Fallen'' were largely gone, and the music as a whole was far more complex with multiple-layered arpeggios and pads. The album was composed using a mix of analog and digital synthesizers, and an
Ensoniq ASR-10
The Ensoniq ASR-10 was a sampling keyboard produced by Ensoniq between 1992 and 1998. The ASR-10 was a follow up product to the very popular Ensoniq EPS and Ensoniq EPS-16+ performance samplers, and was also available with a piano style weigh ...
sampler. Notable analog synthesizers used on the album included the
ARP 2600
The ARP 2600 is a semi-modular analog subtractive audio synthesizer produced by ARP Instruments, Inc.
History
Developed by a design team headed by ARP namesake Allen R. Pearlman and engineer Dennis Colin, the ARP 2600 was introduced in 1971 a ...
, which was used for most of the sounds on the tracks "Firstlight," "Arclight," and "Standing," the SCI
Pro One, and an
Oberheim OB-1
The Oberheim OB-1 was a monophonic, programmable, analog synthesizer introduced by Oberheim Electronics in 1978. It originally sold for $1,895 and was the first analog synthesizer capable of storing patches. The design was a replacement for the pre ...
. Digital synthesizers used were the
Roland JP-8000
The Roland JP-8000 is an analog modeling synthesizer released by the Roland Corporation in 1996.
Overview
The Roland JP-8000 was released in early 1997 as part of the first wave of virtual analog modeling synthesizers (VA synths). Others from ...
,
Access Virus
The Access Virus is a virtual analog synthesizer made by the German company Access Music GmbH. It was first produced in 1997 and has since been upgraded frequently, with the company releasing new models about every two years. Early models includ ...
(used almost exclusively on the track Darkangel),
Korg Trinity
The Korg Trinity is a synthesizer music workstation released by Korg in 1995. It was also the first workstation to offer modular expansion for not only sounds, but also studio-grade feature such as ADAT, various sound engine processors, audio r ...
, the EMU Proteus 2000 and the
Roland JV-1080
The Roland JV-1080 ( Super JV, Super JV-1080, or simply 1080) is a sample-based synthesizer/sound module in the form of a 2U rack. The JV-1080's synthesizer engine was also used in Roland's XP-50 workstation (1995). Due to its stellar libra ...
.
''Futureperfect'' (2002)
Their 2002 album, ''
Futureperfect
''Futureperfect'' is the fourth studio album by the German-based alternative electronic band VNV Nation. It was released in Europe on 28 January 2002 and on 5 March 2002 in the United States. It was the first VNV Nation release to be created/p ...
'', while retaining many industrial elements represented a departure in many ways, largely away from EBM and towards trance and synthpop. Some neoclassical instrumental pieces were included in the album. Around this time Ronan Harris and
Apoptygma Berzerk's Stefan Groth were credited with coining the term "
futurepop
Futurepop is an electronic music genre that has been characterized as a blend of synthpop, EBM and dance beats, based on trance and techno.Peter Matzke, Tobias Seeliger: ''Das Gothic- und Dark-Wave-Lexikon.'' Schwarzkopf und Schwarzkopf, Berlin ...
" to describe their sound. This shift caused their mainstream popularity to increase still further, but alienated some of their fans who preferred their earlier harsher and darker sound. Notably, the album was produced using only software synthesizers instead of hardware synthesizers. It was the first VNV Nation album made entirely with software synthesizers.
The band embarked on a highly successful world tour in support of ''Futureperfect'' from 2001 to 2003. Their concerts in Berlin, Washington DC, and the
M'era Luna Festival
The M'era Luna is a rock festival that encompasses a number of different styles such as metal, future pop, aggrotech, synthpop, gothic rock, dark wave, and ebm. It is held annually on the second weekend of every August, in Hildesheim, Ge ...
were recorded and edited together for release as the ''
Pastperfect'' DVD.
''Matter + Form'' (2005)
Their 2005 album, ''
Matter + Form'', expanded on the soundscape established with ''Futureperfect''. Notable for this harder-edged sound was the first single "Chrome". Also of note is the lack of effects applied to the vocals, a departure from previous albums, which allows Harris' voice more space in the mix. There were also several songs with a softer and more pensive theme. Some songs even had a slight "rock" feeling to them, mostly from how drum sequences and bass lines were arranged, the most obvious example being the final song, "Perpetual". The assortment of instruments used in the production was much larger than on previous albums. While mostly composed using software synthesizers, several different analogue modular synthesizers were used, along with an array of vintage effects. This album was also the first time the band used an outside producer. Both ''Matter + Form'' and "Chrome" peaked at #1 on the DAC Albums and Singles charts, respectively.
''Judgement'' (2007)
VNV Nation's next studio album was ''
Judgement
Judgement (or US spelling judgment) is also known as ''adjudication'', which means the evaluation of evidence to make a decision. Judgement is also the ability to make considered decisions. The term has at least five distinct uses. Aristotle s ...
'', released on 4 April 2007. Containing ten tracks, it continued the evolution of the VNV Nation sound. While written and recorded in VNV Nation's own studio, located in the now defunct Soundfactory Studios in Hamburg, the album production took advantage of the main studio's facilities through the use of its collection of vintage microphones and effects, and mixing the album on the studio's ADT console.
On 25 April 2007, at the sold-out show at The Metro in Chicago, Harris stated that the rumours about ''Judgement'' being the last album were false and that more was to come and that ''Judgement'' was just the beginning.
At the alternative electronic music festival
Infest in
Bradford
Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...
on 26 August 2007, just after the
murder of Sophie Lancaster
The murder of Sophie Lancaster occurred in England in August 2007. The victim and her boyfriend, Robert Maltby, were attacked by a group of teenage boys while walking through Stubbylee Park in Bacup, Rossendale, Lancashire, on 11 August 2007. ...
, Harris dedicated the song "Illusion" to her and contacted the family soon afterwards to offer his condolences.
''Reformation 1'' (2009)
Two years after ''Judgement'', the box set ''
Reformation 1
''Reformation 01'' is a box set by VNV Nation that was released on 24 April 2009 in Europe and 12 May 2009 in North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. ...
'' was released in Europe on 24 April 2009. Its US release was on 12 May.
''Of Faith, Power and Glory'' (2009)
The next album, ''
Of Faith, Power and Glory'' was mentioned on the band's MySpace blog. Harris confirmed to ''Side-Line'' that they were aiming for late April to release the album, which would be titled ''Of Faith, Power and Glory'', or as Harris described it: "The 3 things that people desire and which can make you or destroy you!"
Due to the release of "
Reformation 1
''Reformation 01'' is a box set by VNV Nation that was released on 24 April 2009 in Europe and 12 May 2009 in North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. ...
" in mid-April, the release of the album was postponed; it appeared in the US on CD and in the
iTunes Store
The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...
on 23 June 2009, and in Europe on 19 June 2009.
''Crossing the Divide'' and ''Automatic'' (2010–2011)
A remix collection called ''Crossing The Divide'' was planned for release on 8 June 2010, but was delayed until May 2012. The update on the official website cited unforeseen circumstances and personal matters for the delay. On 14 May 2012, the EP was announced on the band's Facebook page and made available for free via
SoundCloud
SoundCloud is an online audio distribution platform and music sharing website that enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is one of the largest music streaming se ...
. There were also plans for a number of extended and enhanced re-releases of previous albums in 2010; however these plans did not materialize.
On 16 September 2011, VNV Nation's eighth studio album ''
Automatic'', was released for most of Europe, with the physical CD released on 25 October 2011 in the United States.
''Gothic meets Klassik, Transnational, and Resonance'' (2012–15)
In November 2012, VNV Nation,
Blutengel
Blutengel (german: Blood Angel) (stylized as BlutEngel) is a German electronic music group formed by singer Chris Pohl (also of the groups Terminal Choice, Tumor, and Miss Construction and the owner of the Fear Section label) after he had to le ...
and
Staubkind performed at the
Gothic meets Klassik festival in Leipzig. On the 10th, they played a standard electronic set, and on the 11th, they performed with Ronan Harris on vocals accompanied by a full
symphony orchestra
An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families.
There are typically four main sections of instruments:
* bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, ce ...
for the first time. That orchestra was the
Gewandhausorchester
The Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra (Gewandhausorchester; also previously known in German as the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig) is a German symphony orchestra based in Leipzig, Germany. The orchestra is named after the concert hall in which it is bas ...
, one of the most traditional German orchestras, which had already premiered works by
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...
or
Franz Schubert
Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...
. The show was recorded for release, but a problem with the recording equipment rendered the audio unusable. As a result, Ronan began to work with the arranger on an album of VNV Nation songs scored for orchestra, which would include the tracks performed at Gothic Meets Klassik as well as additional songs. Ronan also performed a selection of VNV Nation songs with a classical pianist on the 2013 Gothic Cruise.
The new album ''
Transnational'' was released on 11 October (EU), 15 October (NA), and elsewhere on 19 November, preceded by a promotional tour beginning on 2 October 2013.
The orchestral album ''
Resonance: Music For Orchestra Vol. 1'' was released on 15 May 2015. It consists of tracks selected from their back catalogue reimagined for orchestra. It was recorded in the
Babelsberg Studios
Babelsberg Film Studio (german: Filmstudio Babelsberg), located in Potsdam-Babelsberg outside Berlin, Germany, is the second oldest large-scale film studio in the world only preceded by the Danish Nordisk Film (est. 1906), producing films since ...
outside Berlin at the end of February 2015, the same studios where scores for films such as ''
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1'' and ''
Part 2'' were recorded. The songs "Nova (Largo)" and "Teleconnect, Part 2" were recorded with a piano and string trio ensemble. The album was too long for a single vinyl record, and was released as a limited edition 6 x 10" vinyl box set in addition to standard CD digipack and digital formats. Resonance reached #7 on the official German Album Charts the week of 22 May 2015, and respectively #3 on the US Billboard Classical Crossover Album Charts and #4 on the US Billboard Classical Music Charts for 30 May 2015.
''Noire'' (2018)
On 16 November 2017 in was announced that Mark Jackson, who had participated as live drummer at concerts since the mid-1990s, had left VNV Nation.
Their tenth studio album, ''
Noire'', was released on 12 October 2018 as a digital album in all markets, and as a physical CD in non-American markets via
Anachron Records. In the American market, the physical CD was distributed by
Metropolis Records
Metropolis Records is a record label founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1993 by the late Dave Heckman. The label's all-electronic format closely tracked with European contemporaries, such as Off Beat, and, since 1995, has been instrumenta ...
, with an expected release date of 9 November 2018.
''Electric Sun'' (2023)
On 26 April 2022, VNV Nation's eleventh studio album, "Electric Sun" was announced with a February 2023 release to coincide with a February 2023 European Tour.
Discography
*''Advance and Follow'' (1995)
*''
Praise the Fallen
''Praise the Fallen'' (also known as ''PTF2012'') is the second studio album by the alternative electronic band VNV Nation, released in 1998. It is a departure from their debut album’s sound, featuring better production values, being more mel ...
'' (1998)
*''
Empires
An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
'' (1999)
*''
Futureperfect
''Futureperfect'' is the fourth studio album by the German-based alternative electronic band VNV Nation. It was released in Europe on 28 January 2002 and on 5 March 2002 in the United States. It was the first VNV Nation release to be created/p ...
'' (2002)
*''
Matter + Form'' (2005)
*''
Judgement
Judgement (or US spelling judgment) is also known as ''adjudication'', which means the evaluation of evidence to make a decision. Judgement is also the ability to make considered decisions. The term has at least five distinct uses. Aristotle s ...
'' (2007)
*''
Of Faith, Power and Glory'' (2009)
*''
Automatic'' (2011)
*''
Transnational'' (2013)
*''
Resonance: Music For Orchestra Vol. 1'' (2015)
*''
Noire'' (2018)
References
External links
Official VNV Nation websiteRonan interview with Strangeways Radio– 5 March 2012
Dieselpunks.org Interview – 19 June 2009
Side-Line Magazine Interview– 2005
VNV Nationat
Discogs
Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...
VNV Nationat
Last.fm
Last.fm is a music website founded in the United Kingdom in 2002. Using a music recommender system called "Audioscrobbler", Last.fm builds a detailed profile of each user's musical taste by recording details of the tracks the user listens to, e ...
*
Interview with DJ Starr– 2006
VNV Nation Gallery on Alberta Stars– 2007
{{DEFAULTSORT:VNV Nation
Irish electronic music groups
Musical groups from London
TVT Records artists
Musical groups established in 1990
English electronic music groups
Wax Trax! Records artists
Metropolis Records artists
Dependent Records artists
Off Beat label artists